Tigran The Great’s Citadel Found In Artsakh

Tigran’s CitadelThe exact location is hard to pinpoint. It points to the Khachenaget region formerly known as Aghdam. Click on the maps below. Also click on the second site for very interesting maps and stats.Tigran The Great's Citadel Found In Artsakh

TIGRAN THE GREAT'S CITADEL FOUND IN ARTSAKHAZG Armenian Daily17/08/2006August 10, The expedition "Tigranakert" of the institute of Archaeologyand Ethnology of the Academy of Sciences of Republic of Armeniawith the initiative and financing of "France-Karabagh" and "Yerkir"Union of NGOs for Repatriation and Settlement has made astoundingdiscoveries. The expedition, led by the Doctor of Historical SciencesHamlet Petrosian, managed to find the citadel constructed by TigranThe Great. The structure was built by huge plain stone blocks tiedto each other with the so-called "swallow-tail bounds" - an advancedHellenic technique. Such a complicated and advanced technique is usedhere for the first time and serves as evidence for the hypothesisof the research group, in particular that Tigranakert of Artsakh islocated at the same place as the current archaeological excavation. Oneof the fenced terraces of the city, which is also constructed fromplain blocks, is also under excavation. The excavations of the urbandistrict and adjacent burial mounds have also been initiated.

These excavations have come to prove that Armenian identity has beenpresent in the lower stream of Khachenaget (former region of Aghdam)at least since the first century B.C.

Armenia's National Academy of Science Archeology Institute announced the results of the archeological excavations carried out in occupied Azerbaijani region of Agdam.

The Institute director Aram Kalantaryan said during the excavations in the region, the remnants of ancient city established by "Armenian tsar Tigran Mech" were discovered. The Institute continues carrying out archeological excavations in Azerbaijani occupied region at the initiative of Yerkir Patriotic Union of Public Organizations.

According to Armenian sources, the remnants of ancient city discovered in Agdam are dated to the 1st century, B.C. Armenian media is largely commenting on the results of these excavations. Basing on the discovery of "Armenian city", the media called for Defense Minister Serj Sarkisyan to apologize to the people for his saying Aghdam is not an Armenian territory.

"The border of the home country lies till where we can protect our lands. As concerns Agdam, I can reiterate that it is not part of our country," Sarkisyan said.

August 10, The expedition "Tigranakert" of the institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Academy of Sciences of Republic of Armenia with the initiative and financing of "France-Karabagh" and "Yerkir" Union of NGOs for Repatriation and Settlement has made astounding discoveries. The expedition, led by the Doctor of Historical Sciences Hamlet Petrosian, managed to find the citadel constructed by Tigran The Great. The structure was built by huge plain stone blocks tied to each other with the so-called "swallow-tail bounds" -

an advanced Hellenic technique. Such a complicated and advanced technique is used here for the first time and serves as evidence for the hypothesis of the research group, in particular that Tigranakert of Artsakh is located at the same place as the current archaeological excavation. One of the fenced terraces of the city, which is also constructed from plain blocks, is also under excavation. The excavations of the urban district and adjacent burial mounds have also been initiated.

August 10, The expedition "Tigranakert" of the institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Academy of Sciences of Republic of Armenia with the initiative and financing of „France-Karabagh‰ and "Yerkir" Union of NGO-s for Repatriation and Settlement has made astounding discoveries. The expedition, led by the Doctor of Historical Sciences Hamlet Petrosyan, managed to find the citadel constructed by Tigran The Great. The structure was built by huge plain stone blocks tied to each other with the so called "swallow-tail bounds" - an advanced Hellenic technique. Such a complicated and advanced technique is used here for the first time and serves as evidence for the hypothesis of the research group, in particular that Tigranakert of Artsakh is located at the same place as the current archaeological excavation. One of the fenced terraces of the city, which is also constructed from plain blocks, is also under excavation.

The excavations of the urban district and adjacent burial mounds have also been initiated. These excavations have come to prove that Armenian identity has been present in the lower stream of Khachenaget (former region of Aghdam) at least since the first century B.C. www.francekarabagh.org

That's OK MosJan. It is wonderful!Many of us can read French. We can see that the excavation was done with the cooperaton of a French team.Could you please merge what I had posted a couple of days ago here;http://hyeforum.com/...topic=14445&hl=Thank you for the wonderful pictures.

Over the past few years the area lying 30 km from Martakert, NKR is pointed to as the place of Tigranakert, one of the towns founded by the Armenian King Tigran the Great (95-55 BC). After the excavations in this area there are no doubts. An expedition of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences and Yerevan State University funded by Yerkir Union of NGOs dug a 30 m part of the wall and part of the citadel, colored ceramic objects, fragments of a flask and a bead. Tigranakert was surrounded by a 5 m-wide wall, the stones are white, joined by dovetail, and even the knife would not pass through these stones. After Artashat and Armavir no similar buildings were discovered to the east of the Caspian Sea. Tigranakert lasted until the 14th century, the invasions of Mongols. On the other side of the wall houses were located. “There was a settlement, but it could be a small village. It seemed that we would find little. On the first day we chose two stones, dug, we found some things but nothing of importance. We went on searching and on the very first day we found out that the two stones were parallel. Then we discovered that the side of the hill is covered with buildings,” says Hamlet Petrosyan, senior researcher of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of Armenia. “They needed to put large stones on one another to have an even fundament for the wall. If we restore it ideally, it will be something like the terraced gardens of Babylon, because the stone used here was white and in the ancient world marble was something ideal, this was a white town, even the town of Aghdam which was founded much later means “a white house,” says the archeologist. He says the town used to have a drainage system. “We need to continue the excavations in several parts to reconstruct the structure of the town. It should have had a population of 50-60 thousand. Building such a town by slaves would take 10 years,” says the archeologist Haik Hakobian, Yerevan State University. By the initial findings of excavations this is the town founded by King Tigran. The early Christian Armenian church, which is on the other side of the mountain and dates back to the 4-5 centuries, and the khachkars show that the early Christian culture began and lasted here until the 14 century. In the upcoming months a booklet will be published with the pictures of objects discovered during the excavations.

East of the NKR capital of Stepanakert, in Aghdam, archeologists uncovered remains believed to be part of a kingdom built by Armenian king (1st Century BC) Tigran the Great.

An enclosure that had been part of a citadel, as well as two cemeteries, were unearthed during a dig sponsored by an Armenian NGO out to prove that Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliev was wrong to recently claim that the area had always belonged to the Azeris.

“This proves the so-called disputed areas are native Armenian. We can prove to the international community each stone and monument in the liberated territories is Armenian,” says Hamlet Petrosyan, the Head of the expedition organized by the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography at the RA National Academy of Sciences. The dig was financed by the Yerkir Union of NGOs for Repatriation and Settlement (www.yerkir.org).

Armenian scientists say the area was part of Tigranakert. The site was first surveyed two years ago. The dig started August 3, and all on-site research has been done under fear of landmines – many remain in the area since the Karabakh war.

Chairman of the Union Sevak Artsruni says the disclosure of Artsakh Tigranakert may influence the peace negotiation process. (Though his optimism may be out of line with OSCE Minsk Group reality.)

“The “Yerkir” Union signifies these excavations first of all because of political reasons. This is our response to Aliev’s statement made last year at the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, where he claimed the necessity to find proofs that Armenians unlike Azerbaijanis are alien in Artsakh,” says Artsruni.

According to Artsruni the existence of the Tigranakert ruins could strengthen Armenia’s claims of having lived on the land 21 centuries ago.

The first stage of the excavations revealed a 33-meter long wall of one of the citadel terraces with huge polished stones, swallow-tailed couplings, a 5th to 6th century basilica and thousands of pottery, jewelry and casks.

“The masonry with the swallow-tailed couplings is very important for dating for this construction technique is very typical to Hellenistic epoch, when the monolith blocs of stones joined by big metal couplings, were filled with lead and grouting,” says Doctor of Archeology Lyuba Kirakosyan.

The masonry of the walls can be found also in Artashat and Armavir, but Kirakosyan says, this is the first time the found masonry is made in such a scrutiny and precision.

The preliminary studies of the findings have shown the city of Tigranakert existed without interruption from the very day of its founding in the 1st century BC until the 13th-14th centuries AD.

The group has also studied the monastery complex craved in the rock in the Khachenaget valley.

According to Hamlet Petrosyan, the cave complex of Khachenaget is a church, a porch and a graveyard also carved in the rock. There, early Christian cross compositions and Greek inscriptions have been found.

The archeologist says the Khachenaget complex is known also to Azerbaijanis, who have considered it a complex of early (Caucasian) Albanian period, but the numerous archeological materials are distinctly Armenian.

The study has also discovered a system of water supply.

“The discovery of the city founded by the most famous Armenian King Tigran the Great is the greatest proof the lands have historically been Armenian. The government of Karabakh and the officials consider this a great victory today,” says Artsruni.

The excavations will continue over the next two years, and the recent discovery is expected to be documented in an illustrated book.

In an interview with the Panarmenian.net the chair of the European Armenian Federation Hilda Choboian made an interesting statement, “The settlement of the conflict over Nagorno Karabakh requires time to let Armenia decide what the notion of security means for the people of Armenia and NKR. It is necessary to define the regional, territorial and finally the spiritual security borders and realize the threat we might undergo in case we return at least one region.”

Such an approach towards the conflict is but typical of the Armenian political figures who either accept humbly the necessity to make concessions or appear in a fundamental nationalist position. It is not typical because over these years Armenia and Karabakh have not reached a definition of their security.

For an ordinary person, security is the absence of threats against their life, health, work, rights and freedoms. If we do not speak about the natural disasters, it is possible to determine the borders within which people will feel relatively secure. For Karabakh, this border passes along the front line between Azerbaijan and Karabakh. This line occurred to guarantee the security.

We suggest that anyone who doubts take the map and objectively try to draw objectively the border between Azerbaijan and Karabakh. Military experts say today’s border is the best variant. This line excludes the possibility of enclaves in Armenia and Azerbaijan. Any deviation of this line may lead to the danger of emergence of enclaves and semi-enclaves for people who are living in the border area and are hostile.

This line is drawn surprisingly clearly by smart strategists. In 1994 the military actions were halted at the right moment when the necessary security of the Armenians was provided. The Armenian force could go forward though it did not have additional soldiers to liberate territories just so.

And within these borders Karabakh is an indivisible entity. If we divide it into parts, nobody will get anything. Do you remember the fable about two women who were arguing for the baby. King Solomon offered to divide the baby. The real mother did not agree to this decision because her purpose was to provide a normal life for her child and not to get hold of it.

Everyone who is negotiating and speaks about concessions should give real evaluation: will the people of Karabakh be secure and free if there is compromise?

The Armenian government gives no attention to the excavations by the Yerkir Union NGO near the city of Aghdam, which discovered the remains of the ancient town of Tigranakert and evidence to the ancient Armenian civilization in this territory. Hamlet Petrosyan, who is a member of the Yerkir Union and the supervisor of the excavations, held a news conference March 16 at the Friday Club and spoke about the continuation of the digging and the attitude of the Armenian government. He says the aim of their organization is to discover remains of the Armenian civilization in the liberated territories and show to the world that these territories used to be the habitat of the Christian civilization. He says their job is to discover historical evidence to the Armenian civilization, culture, meanwhile the government agencies manage these values. “Culture is also a product, like oil,” Hamlet Petrosyan said. According to him, the Armenian government does not appreciate this oil. Hamlet Petrosyan says the government of Artsakh gives sufficient attention. He says during the excavations in Aghdam the NKR minister of foreign affairs and the NKR minister of culture visited them. Meanwhile, there is no reaction from the Armenian government.

And if the government learns about the activities of the Yerkir Union, no official will state any more that Aghdam is not our homeland. At least one needs to be an archeologist to prove it with facts because the Armenian archeologists prove that the territory of Aghdam is our homeland. During the excavations the Yerkir Union discovered not only separate khachkars but also an entire urban infrastructure which allows Hamlet Petrosyan state that there are two town named Tigranakert, and this place was chosen for the town because it is the verge of the mountainous area, and King Tigran Great chose this place because he thought this territory would give strategic dominance over the valley of the rivers Kura and Arax. Hamlet Petrosyan says the excavations will continue in 2007, and they expect to discover the citadel of Tigranakert. The archeologist says the town was built with white stone, which was considered as the highest quality and valuable stone in the ancient world, which is evidence to the Armenian Christian civilization. “The word “Aghdam” means white stone,” Hamlet Petrosyan says.

Hamlet Petrosyan says archeologists from different parts of the world are interested in the results of the excavations but they take part as private persons because the conflict over Karabakh and the attitude of the world towards these territories does not let archeologists arrive in delegations. There are no legal problems related to the excavations, says Hamlet Petrosyan. According to him, there is no financial problem either but the Yerkir Union got assistance from Armenian benefactors living abroad. Although they hope that in 2007 the local businessmen will also help them. The union offered a proposal to the Union of Producers and Businessmen but got no definite answer yet. However, the attention of our government would be more valuable for us than, Hamlet Petrosyan says.